All of the individual images and collections of images in this Appendix are Copyright, Creativity for Kids. Thus, this Appendix contains material to which a claim for copyright is made. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but reserves all other copyright rights whatsoever.
The sheets that follow are double-sided color copies of actual double-sided magnetic pieces and story boards embodying the present invention. The magnetic pieces are copied in two forms, (i) with the sandwiched sheet of material from which they were cut and (ii) removed from that sheet. Although the two sides of each double-sided copy are not precisely aligned, it is believed that one of ordinary skill in the art can understand which two images in this Appendix appear on each side of each double-sided piece, based on image size, image location, image content, image orientation, etc.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material to which a claim for copyright is made. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but reserves all other copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to a double-sided magnetic piece having images on both sides. Additionally, the present invention relates generally to a story board and a story tin, which are magnetically attracted to magnetic pieces and which include images of a story to which the images on each side of the magnetic piece also relate.
The potential for magnets with images thereon has not been fully realized by those skilled in the art. It is known within the art to produce magnets of varying shapes and sizes comprised of a magnetic layer on one side and a layer of printed material on the other side, wherein the magnetic layer magnetically sticks to a ferromagnetic object, such as the front of a refrigerator or a slab of iron, and the layer of printed material is visible on the other side of the magnet. It is also known in the art to produce magnets with printed material on both sides of a magnetic layer.
It is also known within the art to produce thick magnets comprised of a magnetic layer, a thickening layer of foam and a layer of printed material, wherein the thickening layer is sandwiched in between the magnetic layer and the layer of printed material, so that the magnetic layer may stick to a ferromagnetic object while the layer of printed material is outwardly displayed.
The present Invention provides a magnetic piece comprising first and second magnetic sides, each side facing outwardly and having a different image disposed thereon. Each image comprises a different expression of an object, wherein the expressions are comprised of at least one characteristic which differs from one side to the other. In embodiments of the present invention, objects are characters, animals, buildings and other inanimate objects. Characteristics include facial expressions, body position, clothing, lighting, temporal indicia, seasonal indicia, etc.
In a first embodiment, the magnetic piece has an image on first and second sides, wherein each image comprises a different expression of an object, with the object having at least one differing characteristic in each image. In a second embodiment of the present Invention, a thick magnetic piece has a thickening layer between two magnetic layers.
In an embodiment of the present Invention, a magnetic piece is comprised of a single layer of magnetic material sandwiched between two layers of a printing medium with images annexed thereon.
In an alternate embodiment of the present Invention, a magnetic piece is comprised of a thickening layer sandwiched between two magnetic layers. The magnetic piece further has a layer of printing medium with images annexed thereto disposed on the exterior sides of each magnetic layer.
In a further embodiment of the present Invention, the magnetic layers comprise magnetic striping bands. The magnetic striping bands are preferably of uniform width, parallel to each other, and of alternating magnetic domain direction.
Advantages and benefits of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description.
In the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, embodiments of the invention are illustrated, which, together with a general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description given below serve to example the principles of this Invention.
FIG. 1A is a top planar view of a first magnetic side of a magnetic piece of the present Invention;
FIG. 1B is a top planar view of a second magnetic side of the magnetic piece of the present Invention;
FIG. 2 is an angled, three-dimensional representation of a physical relationship between the first and second magnetic sides of a magnetic piece of the present Invention;
FIG. 3A is an angled, side view of a preferred embodiment of the present Invention;
FIG. 3B is a partial view of a cross-section of a preferred embodiment of the present Invention taken along line 3Bxe2x80x943B in FIG. 3A;
FIG. 4 is a top planar view of magnetic striping bands within a magnetic face of a magnetic piece of the present Invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-section of two magnetic pieces of FIG. 4 of the present Invention experiencing a magnetic force attraction, each cross-section taken alone line 5xe2x80x945 in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an angled, side view of an assembly from which magnetic pieces are die cut;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a story board;
FIG. 8 is a planar view of a story board;
FIG. 9 is a planar view of two story boards in sequence;
FIG. 10A is an angled, three-dimensional representation of a story tin in an open position;
FIG. 10B is an angled, three-dimensional representation of the story tin of FIG. 10A in a closed position;
FIG. 11A is an angled, three-dimensional representation of an embodiment of a story tin in an open position; and
FIG. 11B is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the story tin of FIG. 11A in a closed position.